Caborn: FA crazy to sell cup name
FORMER sports minister Richard Caborn has called talk of rebranding the country’s showpiece knockout competition The Emirates FA Cup “commercialisation gone mad”.
The Football Association could sign a £30m, three-year deal with the airline, as soon as today. A previous deal with Budweiser packaged the cup as “in association with” the beer brand, whereas the new agreement would incorporate Emirates into the title of the competition.
“This is absolutely crazy. It’s commercialisation gone mad,” said Caborn. “You have the greatest name in football that has so many memories for so many people and you are just selling it off. It is the FA’s greatest brand and they should protect it. It’s not like the Premier League, it’s something different to people who love football, and to take that away would be mad.”